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The problem with the iPad Pro is that it is still an iPad. Look at the metrics of iPad sales[1], down 15% or so. There is no compelling reason to upgrade iPads

The problem with the iPad Pro is that it is still an iPad. Look at the metrics of iPad sales[1], down 15% or so. There is no compelling reason to upgrade iPads on a year over year basis for most people that have them. Everyone else bought a Kindle or Asus or <insert tablet> here for $100 and called it a day. [1]https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/26/iphone-ipad-and-mac-sales-are-down-but-apple-only-cares-about-services-now/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/26/iphone-ipad-and-mac-sales-...

bane 10y ago
This seems to speak to a larger problem for Apple of identifying their "Pro" markets and going after them. The iPad Pro seems to do a reasonable job targeting visual artists in the hardware, but the software isn't there yet. Notionally speaking, what would a Pro work environment look like using tablets? I'd argue that Pro software tends to be hard to use and complicated -- but highly efficient in that domain, and this has been a struggle for Apple to get...and fundamentally there should be some kind of solution for cobbling together several iPads and a couple peripherals into some kind of workstation, where the iPads can do dual duty as both reconfigurable low-latency interfaces and displays for various parts of a pro-oriented workflow. Or at the very least offer real support for pro workflows with a Mac as the main computer and the iPads acting as interfaces. You sort of see some of this in things like DJ setups [1], but you'll notice none of these solutions lets you just use more iPads as additional screens/interfaces. I write music as a hobby, and I wouldn't even know what to do with a single screen for it, and I feel cramped on two. I'd love to be able to get a tablet device, connect it to "the studio" and now it handles EQ or provides some virtual knobs, or gives me a spectrogram or something. And the system just sort of makes it work. A half dozen interfaces/displays would be great. I also enjoy photography, why not have one display showing a gallery, one showing the before edits, and one showing what I'm editing, with one or two providing common edit controls? But this interconnecting magic is simply missing. 1 - https://www.algoriddim.com/hardware https://www.algoriddim.com/hardware
- walterbell 10y ago
  There's another problem with the iOS ecosystem: it is very difficult for app developers to make money: no trials, no way to reach customers, poor discovery, and other well documented challenges. This does not bode well for the future of Pro-grade software on iOS, in contrast to macOS. http://www.cultofmac.com/451594/we-made-our-app-free-and-that-sucks-or-why-freemium-is-killing-the-app-economy/ http://www.cultofmac.com/451594/we-made-our-app-free-and-tha...

bane 10y ago

This seems to speak to a larger problem for Apple of identifying their "Pro" markets and going after them. The iPad Pro seems to do a reasonable job targeting visual artists in the hardware, but the software isn't there yet. Notionally speaking, what would a Pro work environment look like using tablets? I'd argue that Pro software tends to be hard to use and complicated -- but highly efficient in that domain, and this has been a struggle for Apple to get...and fundamentally there should be some kind of solution for cobbling together several iPads and a couple peripherals into some kind of workstation, where the iPads can do dual duty as both reconfigurable low-latency interfaces and displays for various parts of a pro-oriented workflow. Or at the very least offer real support for pro workflows with a Mac as the main computer and the iPads acting as interfaces. You sort of see some of this in things like DJ setups [1], but you'll notice none of these solutions lets you just use more iPads as additional screens/interfaces. I write music as a hobby, and I wouldn't even know what to do with a single screen for it, and I feel cramped on two. I'd love to be able to get a tablet device, connect it to "the studio" and now it handles EQ or provides some virtual knobs, or gives me a spectrogram or something. And the system just sort of makes it work. A half dozen interfaces/displays would be great. I also enjoy photography, why not have one display showing a gallery, one showing the before edits, and one showing what I'm editing, with one or two providing common edit controls? But this interconnecting magic is simply missing. 1 - https://www.algoriddim.com/hardware https://www.algoriddim.com/hardware

walterbell 10y ago
There's another problem with the iOS ecosystem: it is very difficult for app developers to make money: no trials, no way to reach customers, poor discovery, and other well documented challenges. This does not bode well for the future of Pro-grade software on iOS, in contrast to macOS. http://www.cultofmac.com/451594/we-made-our-app-free-and-that-sucks-or-why-freemium-is-killing-the-app-economy/ http://www.cultofmac.com/451594/we-made-our-app-free-and-tha...